The Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) have sent a legal notice to Duff & Phelps (D&P). The notice pertains to the celebrity report released on 5 February in the media.
According to Sandeep Goyal, chief mentor of IIHB, Duff & Phelps approached the institute in November 2019 proposing an exclusive tie-up between the two organisations.
D&P would use IIHB’s knowledge, research, data and expertise for their 2020 Report. IIHB agreed, subject to being given exclusivity credits.
Goyal said, “Duff & Phelps have completely reneged on their commitments to us on exclusivity despite multiple mails being exchanged, and specific confirmations to that effect by Vibhor Nayar, vice president in-charge of the project.”
He added, “A lot of the data has been shown to be the work of D&P in-house teams while all the knowledge, the expertise and the perspectives were derived from interactions with IIHB. Their teams spent hours in huddles at the IIHB offices. A lot of information has been rephrased and passed off as D&P’s own assessment and understanding of the subject. What amazes me is the unashamed diversion and repurposing of our data. And then they have gone and put out a press release claiming an exclusive tie-up with some Meltwater entity. It hurts. I have never seen such low professional standards in 35 years of being in business.”
IIHB is being represented by Dua & Associates.